Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!

So I know the end of the year blogging hasn't been to great from me. However, I do have a some what good excuse...I had finals, I'm working three jobs, and trying to keep my house in some what decent shape :) Hopefully you all understand. I will try harder for 2011. OMG, it's official tomorrow is the last day of 2010! Where has this year gone?!?

Our budgeting and paying things off sort of went off in December, we did pay for all Christmas items with CASH, and we stuck to that budget to a T! The eating out did get a little crazy however, neither of us are big on breakfast (unless I'm going through a health kick) so the amount we spent on dinner usually equaled what I would spend at the store for a whole days worth of food.

We have our January budget done as of this morning here's just an idea of what our expenses consist of with schools loans, mortgage, food, cars, utilities, saving and so on....

You will notice we hardly put any into savings because this is what we learned in class. We do have an emergency fund, however until most of our debt is paid off all out extra income will go towards that. We also cut back on our giving, as well since he have debt we really don't have money to give, also something we learned in class. The class was amazing, we miss it but we know we have goals in place in order to keep up on track. We have consumer debt that we are trying to pay off before we start trying for kids. Most of our debt comes from student loans so we know that it will take us a little longer, but we know it can be done, we have heard stories, we have talked with people we know it works and we are ready! Like I said hopefully 2011 will be better for blogging, and keeping you up to date on our life changes!


As a quick update for now: Hershie and Tyson are doing great! They grow more and more everyday! They are both about 50 pounds right now at six months! Tyson hates having is photo taken hence why Hershie has two photos up! Hershie on the other hand is just like her Mom and loves to have the attention! Shhh don't tell :) They are both lovers, they enjoy running around the shed in the back yard, treats, new toys, and best of all cuddling :) They hate car rides, but love seeing people, they will lick you to death if you don't tell them enough. We love them and they really are blessings :)


























As for Dan-Still working hard for Wells Fargo, it's pool league season so he gets out every now and then :) Other than that he spend free time playing PS3 or watching football.
As for me school starts on Jan. 10Th with a busy load of classes this semester, should be one of the hardest I would suspect. I'm working for my Dad, Adventuretime, and Old Navy. I have found that even when I take a day off from work that I still find things to do that keep me busy rather than actually relaxing, must be a new phase I am going through...either way we are all healthy, happy, and counting our blessings.

Here's to a great 2011!

Happy New Year!!

Love,
Dan, Hollie, Tyson, and Hershie

October :)

I know I haven't written for a bit but everyone knows how life can be, I mean really it's already October! Where has this year gone, I really can't even begin to start!

Okay so we have played two kick ball games since I posted last, we actually won one, and lost the other, it was still a close game though. One of the girls that put the team together got some photos so she was kind enough to send them to me for the blog. Check them out...The scoreboard after our win, and the team :)

As far as school and work for us- Work for Dan was a great month he hit his incentive which means a bonus :) Besides the fact that he gets a bonus it's great because he was feeling really frustrated with work the last couple weeks so after he found out he was going to make incentive he took a couple days off to relax. School for me is actually going great, I have a quiz once a week in one of my classes and I am to a 58/60 overall for assignments and quizzes, and in another class I got an A on our first paper which we have three that will be added together which will equal our final, instead of a test. I guess I can't complain, so far so good! :) Midterms this week though and I am a littler nervous!

Now for the stuff I know you can't wait to read :) FINANCES!! :)

Well last week we paid off my credit card, and cut it up, $80.00 put to great use :) take a look!

We officially have completed baby step #1 which is putting $1000.00 in a separate savings account for emergency use only. This wasn't hard since we had our wedding money and tax money saved up. That puts us on baby step #2-Paying off the debt, snowball style. We have one down and a few to go, we don't have so much in credit cards and such like that ours is mostly student loans. This means we will probably be on baby step #2 for a little longer than most, but hopefully me getting another job and paying all that towards the debt and cutting other what most people consider "needs" out we will be on the road!!

Next week is bring anyone you want to the class week. If any of you reading this want to see what this class is all about for free, let me know, Dan and I would love to have anyone and everyone! The goal is to fill the room. The class is Monday at 6:30 and there is day care, so even if you have kids you can still come! This is suppose to be the hardest class yet, they say if you can make it through week 4 then we are on to something! :) Our homework for this week is to set up our October budget, the full budget, putting every name on a dollar, there should be no money left over. This is harder than we think, because well we aren't used to putting money away for a specific thing, for instance we don't save for car repairs, we just put money into savings, stuff like this is a challenge for us. October is said to be the key to your finances until April. Why you ask. Well, October there is a holiday, we like to decorate and buy costumes, and candy, November another holiday, We have to buy extra food, more decorations and such, that people typically don't budget for, then well December and Christmas has snuck up on us, and we didn't budget of a tree and gifts. People tend to think this is an emergency, then they put everything on a credit card, and that wont get paid off until at least April. Hence why October should be planned out to the last cent.

This is one of the forms, there is 5 pages to it:

We are on the right track for the most part, but I do have a confession to make, the wedding I wrote about in the last post, where I said I wasn't going to get a new outfit. Well, I did, and I did make an excuse, and this is how it all went down. The outfit I was going to wear was a skirt and a one sleeved shirt. Well thanks to the wonderful, unpredictable, Iowa weather, it was raining all day, and was about fifty degrees outside, I thought I needed something warmer, I found a skirt with tights and a long sleeve shirt. I have made a promise to myself that this will be the same outfit I wear to a wedding we are going to on new years. I did take a step back, but I also paid cash and didn't have to put it on card. Even though we do budget for clothes every month, I would rather save that money up and buy something really nice than an "ok" shirt once a month. Since we are trying to be honest with all of you about this whole financial thing I thought I would share that we do fall sometimes but we get right back up and go harder than before.

Thanks for all the support, and thoughts, and prayers!

Love,

Dan, Hollie, Tyson and Hershie :)

KiCk IT!

It's Wednesday already! I can't believe it!! I also found out we are like 3 weeks from midterms already...(CraZy). Tonight is kick ball night. It has been raining like crazy here the last few days so hopefully the rain will clear for a little while to play.

Monday night was great as always, we talked about relating to our money and working together. All this stuff we are learning isn't just about money it's also about working together and building a stronger marriage, being that money is the number one reason in America for divorce, Sad!! We learned that I am the nerd (everything has a place, and needs to be done a certain way), Dan is the free spirit (It will get done sometime, fly by the seat of the pants) . I should tell you that about 3 years ago before Dan and I started dating I would also have been a free spirit, funny how things are changing :) I am to make the budget, call in a meeting, have him look over it and ask him to make changes to what he thinks needs changed. They actually gave us rules for the "person" we are. All so true though! I can't stress enough how important this class is for all ages. If you are getting married or just got married SIGN UP!! If you are single and just living the so called "high life" on credit cards, SIGN UP!! Or if you have been married for a while and have kids SIGN UP!! We also talked about ways to teach our kids (ours as in when we have them) about money. They have a system that actually makes since and anyone can understand it. I am just AMAZED at everything we have learned in just two weeks, and how much fun we actually do have in class, we laugh a lot.

I know this post isn't as much visually appealing as other blogs, but the information I am sharing I believe will benefit everyone. We're not just sitting at home doing nothing, we have things we do, Dan is in two leagues, one that he doesn't have to pay for and the other we budget for, and we are in a league together that we also budgeted for. We get out, and weekends are usually for getting caught up on sleep and other life things that we couldn't do during the week. This weekend we are going to my cousins wedding and everyone keeps asking what I am wearing and that got me thinking well I really need to get to the mall to find something! WRONG!! I was actually getting ready this morning and remembered an outfit that I have worn ONCE that will be perfect for the wedding. It's amazing how I catch myself trying to go back to old habits, not this time, it's not going to happen! Lucky for us we are so busy right now to stop and think, "Oh I really need this or I really want that." Football season is here, that keeps Dan busy, and school is in full swing with two papers due this week, needless to say that's what I will be doing :)

I always thought I had everything planned out, and knew where we would be 1 year into our marriage, 1.5 years and so on, but now I have learned that it's not about what we want, it's what God wants. We're giving more (give until it hurts), saving more (you only need $4 a week to have a decent retirement people!) and Living like know one else so later we can LIVE like no one else :)

Just a fun note for you:

Top 5 Reasons why it's tough being Dave Ramsey's kid:
5. Every time you get in trouble all you hear in your head, sell so much stuff your kids think they are next. (He recommends you sell so much stuff to start your debt snowball your kids think their next)
4. Pull out your envelope system when you're 5 to buy chocolate milk at school.
3. Every time a guy asks to pick you up for a date, you're required to ask if his car is paid for. (Never buy a car you can't write (and clear) a check for)
2. The stupid scissors, every time a guy comes to pick me up for a date, he stands at the door with the scissors ready to cut up their credit cards :)
1. You are never, never, never, under and circumstances, allowed to super size you meal at McDonald's. (Did you know if you put that extra .39 cents into saving you can be a millionaire by the time you are 83?)

Were halfway through the week, end it strong!!

Love,
Dan, Hollie, Tyson, and Hershie :)

Rain, Rain go away...

It was a very gloomy weekend here in good ole' Urbandale. It Rained all weekend! Non the less we did get a lot accomplished, however if put a damper on the car trading situation.



I know a lot of you are wondering how our budget came out. I will tell you we put it off until late last night, so I will get to that in a minute. To start off the weekend, the first in a while Dan hasn't had to work. We got bills paid and mailed, after sleeping half the day away (literally). Laundry, and cleaned the kitchen, then headed out in the rain to run some errands. We went to the good ole' dollar store to pick up some car cleaning products. Headed to the store to get our groceries which enter side notes here:

I have a friend that is doing the Total Money Makeover as well, she actually got me to do this, I thought about it but I just couldn't bring myself to it. However I finally did, and if any of you have taken my advice and listened to Dave on the radio or read his book he talks bout the E- meal Plan. $5 a month and they send you the meals, and a grocery list. You can do family or just for two. It's cheap meals with out having to live off rice and beans and he puts it. check out the example of our week of dinners below:



Even if you aren't doing the Dave Ramsey plan I find this would be great for anyone as it's hard to plan meals for every day especially when our lives get super busy, it's always easier to just call in pizza or run through the drive thru. You can cancel at any time so why not give it a chance?!? Here's the link for you to check out... http://e-mealz.com/



We had to get some dog food for the puppies, pick up some bones, and well Hershie needed a new collar. Some of you asked if that was in the budget, and yes, we do budget for the dogs, however, here is the story on her last color. It was originally Tyson's, however it was too big for him so we bought him a smaller one (pre-Dave), then Hershie adopted the collar, and it was working fine, until I came home Friday from work and she had made a swimming pool in her kennel and swam in it, literally she was drenched in her urine (gross I know, but that's the story). Had I not washed it 2 times before and it wasn't unraveling she would have kept it. Needless to say I was ready for some wine and the couch after the end to last week. Her new collar is super cute though, check it out--- I might add it was also on sale, $4!





After getting to the store and home and unpacking everything it was about 7:45. I was tired, and I'm sure the weather didn't help that at all. We put a pizza in the over, and I broke out some wine, and we watched the Iowa game. I feel a sleep in the middle and still woke up in time for the end, although I didn't miss much, bad loss for us :(



Sunday, I must admit we slept in again, skipped out on church. I did some laundry, made some breakfast, Dan made me some delicious coffee, while I did homework all afternoon. I feel school is officially in session when it takes a whole day to do homework for only 2 classes. We were bums all day, watched football, and did homework, I thought I would get a walk with Hershie in but the rain would not let up. I know, I know...sooo when did you do the budget....Okay here it is.

We did the budget, now, this week is just a quickie budget. It doesn't have to be exact, just numbers, you can see the sheet below. You can imagine that our take home pay isn't the most right now being that I only work a few hours a week and go to school full time, so basically we live off of Dan's income, which is great for only being out of school for 2 years, and being at this job for one. We probably wont put any numbers up for people to see though. Either way, the goal of this budget is to put every dollar somewhere. There should be no leftover money at the end of the month, you should be at zero, being that you give, save, and pay bills. I must admit though, having zero at the end of the month comes rather easy for us.

Feelings on how the budget went: Putting everything on paper makes you stop and look and realize that we are spending a ton, when we could be giving or saving a lot more. It makes me stress looking at the numbers, it scares me that we have let ourselves come to this and thinking it's okay. But, that's why we are here, taking the class, getting things straight and on our way to debt free. I know some of you are thinking we are crazy for giving "stuff" (aka cars, nights out, super nice clothes, and vacations) up, however, we are thinking the "whole you guys are crazy," is coming from broke friends. We have to start with the people in the mirror. Another side note, a great song for this is "Man in the Mirror," by Michael Jackson. We used to sing this before every game in college, I guess now it's really making an impact.

Love,

Dan,Hollie,Tyson, and Hershie :)

Waiting on Monday...

Oh where to start on this crazy, crazy, week? MONDAY!!

Monday:

I am now officially abnormal, I CAN'T wait for Monday to get here. We LOVE the FPU class! We got all signed in and turned to find a table and what do you know, one of my good friends from high school/college and her husband were right there! A great start to a night we were excited but yet nervous for. Dan actually really enjoyed the class and it helps we have people we know, our age, going through the same steps to hold each other accountable. We are making strides, but we still have our downfalls don't get me wrong. There are days I say, "ohh I think I will go get ____ (fill in the blank)" then I remember we are working on our impulse purchases. We will get there! Still working on the whole car thing but hoping by the end of this weekend we will have that worked out and taken care of one way or another :) If any of you reading this ever think you need help with finances whether you have a lot of debt or just need help getting money put into the right savings account (hopefully one day we will have that part of the problem). This is a great class...no matter your age, income, debt, job, everyone can take it, and we recommend it! There are already so many good things to say that I can't even begin to get it all out.

Wednesday:

KICKBALL!!! Okay, so we didn't win...and I didn't remember my camera, but we were so MUCH better this week than last. I have a feeling we are going to get better each game, and each week we are going to have a little more fun. We had a few people this week get out because they fell over bases, yah it's pretty entertaining I must say. If you are trying to save money but want something to do, and get a laugh come watch us! We play next week at 6:15!

Friday:

Okay, so we haven't got thru the day, which may or may not require me to post again tomorrow :) Tonight we are working on our budget and the car issue! The car really isn't an issue in the sense we can't make the payments, more the sense we don't want to make the payments, that's the issue. We want two cars that are ours free and clear, and were hoping to trade down this weekend :) Please pray this will get done! Then for the budget, we were told that it might be un-nerving for us to do this for the first time, starting with giving and working our way down to least important aspects that we spend money on. This is going to be hard on us I think. To put it all down on paper and see where we are really wasting money will probably make me feel like a mad lady. Oh, well it must be done, and we must learn from the past to make a better future. Like I said I may need to post again tomorrow, and I just might and load our budget so you can all follow along and see how were doing and help us even.

I will end this short (sort of) post with some great news!

1. My best friend (Emily) she was the matron in my wedding, is HAVING A BABY!! Congrats to her and Rossy, and I can't wait to meet the little one! You guys will be AMAZING parents!! :)

2. My sister is officially moving home today!!! YEAH for being back in Iowa! I'm excited to spend more time with her finally without one of us having to make 5 hour trips!! :)

God is doing amazing things in our lives and we are just so excited for all the changes that are starting this fall. Please pray for us and follow us on this new adventure, the Real American Dream!

Love,

Dan, Hollie, Tyson, and Hershie :)

Remember...

This month is flying by just as the others have this past year! Last week we were very busy with school, work, and after work activities, and we will be for a while. Who knew life could be so crazy when there are just two of us? We do manage to find some time (late) on the weekends to just relax. I don't have any photos for you today, I will work on that, hopefully next weeks post will have a lot more! Here is just a brief overview of our week:

Saturday- Dan worked while I did homework and took my first quiz. (with a 100%)

Sunday- Went to church, yeah...we finally got back in to going to church on a weekly basis and I love it!! Went to the mall with my sister so she could do some shopping. Then we had some friends in town...Oh I have a photo of us girls at dinner...(Nicki I stole it from you :) ) We only got to dinner with them as I had my cousins bachelorette party Sunday night. We had Sushi then headed out to a bar, it was a lot of fun. I am very blessed to have such an amazing extended family! Dan got to enjoy the night home without me and play his video games.

Monday- Ahh, a day off!! What did we do Monday? I can't really remember, Dan mowed the lawn, and I think I did homework and watched movies all day, yes, I do believe I was a bum, haha.

Tuesday- School all day then work, and a meeting after work got home about 7:45...yes on Tuesdays and Thursdays I leave at around 7:25 and get home around 6:00 or so, but since we had a meeting after work I didn't get home until 7:45. Dan worked all day then had a softball game...I got home and did homework and waited for Dan to get home to watch "our" shows together :)

Wednesday- School and work as usual, but we started playing in a Kickball league so we

had our first game. Yeah, were not the greatest but it's something were doing together and it's fun to get out of the house in the middle of the hectic week. I will get a team photo for you all this week, were quite the bunch :) Check out our shirts:

Thursday-Another busy/crazy day. School, and work for us, then Dan started pool league this week so he was gone all night. We did go get some dinner before he left and and had some t

ime to chat. I had to run some errands so I did that, them home for homework before getting to bed before Dan even came home.

Friday-The beginning of what we thought would be a somewhat peaceful, relaxing weekend...not so much. We were on the go non-stop, it was a fun weekend just busy. Friday, we stayed in and I made dinner, and we watched TV and relaxed thankfully.

Saturday-We must not forget September 11, 2001 and all those who lost their lives fighting for our Freedom! (moment of silence). Where were you on that day? I had just had ACL reconstruction and my dad was helping me

out of the car for my first therapy session when the doctor ran out to help us and said to hurry in and watch the news. All to crazy for a high school girl who didn't know much about such horrid crimes in our world.

On the other hand we also, in our family it's a big day, my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom!! Dan had to work again, but he got off early because he met all his goals, plus some by noon. I did some laundry and picked up around the house before heading to babysit two of my baby cousins (2ND cousins) Boston-2 and kadin-1. They are two of the sweetest little boys ever. Dan came along and watched the football games while the boys and I played, went for a walk, and hung out outside since it was beautiful out. We got home pretty late, had some dinner and watched a movie before passing out in bed.

Sunday- Up did laundry, picked up a little more, made our grocery list, then headed to church, I must say I felt like we got a lot done before leaving the house at 10:30. After a great service at church headed to walmart, and the dollar store. We got a bunch of cleaning supplies and a few extras all for $20.00. For those looking for dog bowls like big ones, we looked at buying some at

petco...yeah they were $10.00 per bowl. Same plastic ones at the Dollar Store...we got four, for under half the price of ONE at Petco. LOVE IT! Same with cleaning supplies, hello people that want to spend $6.00 for a bottle of liquid to clean the bathroom, I have you know the supplies we got for $1.00 a piece at the dollar store worked just as well, and made our house smell great!!

That's just a heads up for those of you who hate to buy cleaning supplies...I now enjoy it :) Dan even made the statement at the register, "we should shop here more ofter." Oh, the things we learn from each other :) I deep cleaned our house, bottom to top, and ahh does it feel so much better. I have two bedrooms that are in need of deep cleaning still, however, we are still working on the closet...hopefu

lly the next couple weeks it will be done...I pray anyway! After cleaning all day we finally got to celebrate with my mom for her birthday, had a great family dinner, and just relaxed, before heading home to finish some loose ends of cleaning, and hitting the bed, HARD!!

Which brings us to this WONDERFUL and I actually mean WONDERFUL Monday!! We start Financial Peace University tonight, I am very excited, Dan says, "I'm sure we will learn a lot but I wouldn't say I'm excited." Okay I will take that :)

Most of you who read this blog or who have just started reading the blog really just want to know how our finances are going...Actually they are going really well. The whole use cash only has been GREAT for us. It's true what they say that you don't want to actually hand the cash over, it's easier when you swipe the debit card. I get really anxious when we have to spend the money at the register. We even had one guy say Credit or Debit and I handed him cash and he seemed a bit confused. It was a great feeling on my part though! We have really been looking at ways to cut back, and we are actually doing rather well. Dan's still working on the whole, you need to get a receipt for everything, but he will get it. We are just a lot more aware of what we are doing with our money.

I had my first put it back and walk away moment. Last weekend when we were getting ready to go out for my cousins bachelorette party, I used to always buy a new outfit or new shirt to go out. Yes, I have a ton of clothes! However, the new me...I picked up the shirt and was at the cash register when I looked at the shirt again, walked back to the shelf and hung it up. I didn't NEED that shirt, I had plenty to wear, it was a matter of looking thur my wardrobe. That was a major, major step for me. I did however NEED face soap. I went down to the store got my soap and headed out! No buyers remorse for me :) Things are starting to get a little harder as we are now taking bigger steps and I'm sure now with class the climb is really going to start. I will be sure to keep you all posted!!

Thanks for all the support and encouragement!

Love,

Dan, Hollie. Tyson, and Hershie :)

Starting to Smell Like Fall...

Happy September, Can you believe it's already September?

To begin Dan and I made it thru the first week of the next two years :) School is underway, my two part-time jobs are under way, and the dog potty training is going fantastic (finally)! Oh and for the Financial Peace University, that doesn't start until the 13Th, however I will tell you where we are on our journey in a moment.

School- I am officially a Viking, and I LOVE IT! I have told everyone I wish I would have went there to start. However, I wouldn't have met Dan so Central is a blessing if I like it or not. I never once really walked into a class at Central and loved my professor from the start. Grand View on the other hand, my professors rock, they are very intense about the courses they are teaching which proves they love their job, at Central, as my Education Prof. this semester would put it, "some teachers are just there to cash their paychecks at the end of the week." They were boring and dull most of the time, my profs. this semester have made me very excited that I decided to go back to school, I had my first test today, yes Saturday, and I got 9.5 out of 10. I mean really who could complain. I guess I could, I think every night this week I have gone to bed as soon as my homework was done aka before 10. Maybe Dan could complain a little too since I'm not the most fun during the week to hang out with. I think we saw each other all of 1 hour out of Monday and Tuesday. Monday I left at 7:30 and got home at 7:45, but Dan was gone Monday night from 7:00- I'm not sure when because I was in bed when he got home, then Tuesday I left again at 7:30 and got home at 6:00 in time for Dan to have a softball game at 6. I took the puppies to watch then stayed for like 10 minutes after the game before coming home, doing homework, and hitting the sack, yet again before Dan got home. This being busy thing just makes us that more excited to see each other, so it's not all bad.

Work- Work is work, two split jobs keeps me entertained, I love being back with kids, I missed it more than I ever thought I would. It's something new and changing everyday, I love that, I don't get bored that way. Dan's staying busy with Wells so we can't complain there, he will start having two weekends off in a row, I can't wait for that!

Puppies- They are getting so much better, it's been a week now since Hershie has gone in the house or her kennel so we are making progress. They have to be playing with each other all the time, and have to have the same toy all the time. They love to chew on bones, and lay around after walks. They met their "cousin" the other day, he happens to be a 2 year old mastiff, who lives 3 houses down. Yes, for those of you wondering my cousin really does live three houses down from us. Back to the dogs, they were both really scared of him. He is hugh but the biggest lover ever! So for those of you wondering the dogs are great, we love them!!

Finances!!! :)

I don't think too many people would like to talk about this but, well, we do :)

I went to the "free" session first alone, it was great and funny and only got me that more excited about the whole process. We went to go exchange phones last night and they actually worked with us on our iPhone to get the plan figured out so we are now saving what we would have if we would have went to a downgraded phone, which was a win win for Dan and I. Dan wasn't excited at all about changing phones but he went in with a positive attitude that we were downgrading. Then we didn't have to! However, my phone was broken so I was a little upset thinking I would have to live with a broken phone for another 2 years, however, we used the money we were going to use to downgrade towards a phone for me. I didn't get the newest phone but I got a the 3Gs. I will now have a working phone again! :) We are saving money and we are both happy! I put my pride and joys up for sale. I haven't had any bites on my Canon 7D but a few on the Canon XS. It's hard to let go but I know that it's the right thing for now. It has been a little emotional, which it just "things" but photography has always been what I loved to do. I would be lying if I said I just put them on craigslist and didn't think a thing about it. I did take about two weeks, and even with heartache I did it. I can always buy a new one when the time is right and I have the cash! I'm still working on selling my car as well. If any of you know anyone that would like to buy a 2008 Saturn Vue let me know, it is for sale, I am asking $11,500. Other than that, things are going really great, we started the whole, cash only this weekend as well. Everyone I talk to loves hearing about what were doing but at the same time questions what we are doing. If I didn't fully believe in this process I wouldn't be doing it and I wouldn't be telling others about it!

Hopefully I have got everyone all caught up, it has been a whirlwind of a week so I feel like my brain is all goop!

Love,

Dan, Hollie, Tyson, and Hershie :)

Attachment

We may only be on baby step #2 as Dave calls it, but we aren't really taking baby steps towards this debt, we are downgrading phones, and now my car. I hate how I feel about giving this stuff up and I wont say that we HAVE to give this stuff up because we can make all of our payments just fine, but it's exactly that, if you have to make payments you can't really afford it. I have been listening to Dave's podcasts (they are free) and he explains how American's have become a country of how much per month instead of how much total will it cost. I will admitt when I bought my car I had two well paying jobs. My second job would have paid it off in about two years, half of a normal new car term, but then I decided I wanted to spend more time with family and friends than I did working. I should have sold it right then. Payments have been fine on my car, but I would really like to put that money towards school, and savings. We are ready to give up our iPhones (sadness) and I am ready to give up my cute little SUV. It is really sad to think that we can be so attached to just "things."



On the bright side, I am looking at cars from the guy I bought my very first car from, which now looking back I loved that car, even if at that time I came up with every reason why I needed a new car when I went to college. Man I wish I still had that car!! Tomorrow morning after Yoga in the Park with my mom we are headed on a little road trip. I'm actually really excited about this part haha! Who knew you could be so excited about a old car. Another great note, I have gotten a lot of emails from friends and even people I went to school with at Urbandale (more than once) about how they read the first blog and are now trying it out themselves! I love it, and I love that we can inspire people just with our words and actions. I know this isn't going to be easy, but when I see that just doing the little things is paying off in a big way for more than just Dan and I, I can't help but see that this is a great new journey for us, and we're not alone. My mom asks me everyday what's the newest thing I have learned in my book. (Guess what our Christmas gifts to our families is going to be this year?) I want to provide a song for all our readers for just a little song for thought if you will, I love it and I try to listen to it once a day, just to remind me:




Dan and I are so blessed to have an amazing family and friends that are going to support us through this as well as a church that we know we can turn to. I pray a lot about all of this and and old classmate reminded me yesterday, "If God brings us to it, He will bring us through it."(Thanks Nathan!) God is great and he is doing great things in our lives we just need to slow down and realize it!

If anyone has any questions about The Total Money Makeover, or the Financial Peace University class we are going to start on Monday, please contact me, facebook or email, Dan_Hollie09@yahoo.com. I am more than happy to give you all the information I have, or better yet check out http://www.daveramsey.com it's a wonderful tool!

On another note, some of you may be wondering how the rest of our lives are going besides the Total Money Makeover. Well, we are busy bees. Dan still works Saturdays, which still makes the weekends fly by even faster than normal. I just started part time job #2, and I start class on Monday, well if I don't have to report for Jury Duty that is. See, we are very busy people. Lucky for everyone though, Labor day is next weekend, and we can all look forward to an extra day of relaxation, or working in the home right?!? Oh, and my running, sadly has come to a once a week thing... if that, I'm hoping once fall is here to get back into it since I will be able to breath while running again :) Sadly, I don't think I will be running my first marathon at Disney, being that just to get there is $300 and well with the TMM that isn't in baby step #2. Someday, I will get that done :)

I hope everyone had a great week, enjoy the weekend!!

Love,
Dan, Hollie, Tyson, and Hershie

The American Dream isn't for Us :)

Okay, if you follow me on facebook you have seen my post about the "Big Changes coming to this Buchholz family." In those changes Dan and I have found that the so called "American Dream," isn't so much a dream, it's a nightmare. We are happy and healthy and couldn't be more blessed, that's not to say that we don't have our issues, or stresses. The fact of the matter is we both have student loans, I have a car payment, and we have a house payment, all of which we are paying for every month when I would rather be putting that money into our nice savings account :) That's just it, the American Dream is about living and paying your bankers month after month, does that sound like a dream to you? We are going to let you in on our lives as things get scary, and big changes are made, cars will be sold to downgrade (no monthly payments), we will have to give up things that we think we "need." No more keeping up with the Joneses for us! For those of you who want to follow along or even do it with us, beware this isn't going to be easy. I sit here typing this and look out the window at my cute little SUV and really wonder how I am going to feel about selling my car and driving something that is for the point of getting me from point A to point B, without looking cute?!? Maybe all of us need to take a look around and wonder does all the stuff we have really make us happy or is it to impress others? I have read article after article about families that are now living on less and are happier than ever, I'm not saying this is going to be fun, as a matter of fact I think it's going to be very hard and we are going to be looking life right in the face, and we will probably fail from time to time, but in the end I think we are going to be happy, and the goal is to be able to pay cash for our dream home, vacation whenever we want (with cash), and have a strong financial backing without asking the bank for money, college loans paid off, and maybe even pay off the house in half the time then we thought. Big goals yes! Is it possible? Anything you set your mind to is possible! Will it be easy, heck no! Will people probably think we are crazy when we pass up a night out? Of, course they will, but the end picture is what matters.






You all are probably wondering how the heck we are going to do this. To be honest we have student loan debt, that is actually pretty much all of our debt. We don't want to look up 20 years from now sitting at the kitchen table and say, "our student loan payment is due next week," or on the other hand look up in 20 years with a few kids in the other room wondering how we are going to make that student loan payment. We're taking the bull by the horns if you will. We are attending our first Financial Peace University course next Monday and will continue through December. I have started reading Dave Ramsey's, Total Money Makeover, which he is the one who came up with the course. We will be taking it at our church. Anyone can sign up, if I haven't scared you away already :) It's going to be a leap of faith but we are really looking forward to it. Here is just a quick fact from the class, which amazed me, "On average, of families who have taken the course pay off $5,300 in debt and save $2,700 in just 90 days." This just boggled my mind I have to admit. Here is a story that just clicked with us being we are the same age and about in the same spots in life:




We were a young couple who were just starting out married about 6 months had $15,000 in car debt, $20,000 in student loans, and purchased our first home. Man did we wish we had read this book before buying the house (especially since I found out I was pregnant soon after that) Since we have started the plan we have paid off both cars, almost have my student loans paid off, and will have my husbands done in the next 12 months. Living debt free has allowed me to work only 1 day a week so I can be home with our son. My co workers always comment that my husband must make SO MUCH MONEY since I only work 1 day a week. That's when I have the opportunity to tell them about you Dave! We gave our family the book for Christmas, and it has changed all of their lives. Thank you Dave, we will be leading FPU this year at our church. We will still be in our 20's when we are debt free.





We may not have a kid on the way but we sure do have plans to have kids and being that I am on my way back to school next week, it sure would be nice to take a big bite out of our student loans before we take on the life of kids.





With all this being said, sorry it hasn't been more exciting about what we have been doing, but this is a much needed break to the "life" we live now. Please pray for us as this is going to be a great adventure but non with out an obstacle!





I will update as progress is made, this might turn in to a tell all blog! :)





Love,


Dan, Hollie, Tyson, and Hershie

Final Member....For Now....

Well I caught you up..sorta, and now we have another member for you to meet. This is Hershie! For those who are going, "this isn't a Beagle," yes, I know. I spoke with the owner of Buddie's mom, and here is the deal. Rosie (Buddie's Mom) was given two different studs (different times) and took to neither of them, meaning she didn't get prego so they are no longer going to use her to bread. I searched and searched for Beagles and only two places in Iowa could I even find them and non of them were "Buddie." When I saw Buddie's photo for the first time I knew he was the one, so for me to try and find that new, "Buddie" if you will in a Beagle was extra hard. After talking to friends and family they said it would probably be harder on me to get another Beagle than to get a different breed. I for once actually listened! We were lucky that my best friend, Emily (see her below,) her parents just bread their Lab. There were two girls which I knew I wanted a girl with whatever breed I ended up with. Ross and Emily took the first girl, and we now have her sister. Boston is Ross and Emily's little girl, and Hershie is our little girl. We are excited at the same time exhausted. We got her late Sunday night, and I feel like sleep has been few and far between. Lucky for me Dan has been there for me. If this doesn't get us ready for kids, I don't know what will.

On another note, for those of you out of state, the Iowa State Fair is just a little bit of a BIG deal around here. We made our appearance again this year! I really enjoy the fair, I was telling Dan, I could seriously stay at the fair and watch the free stages, and people all day. The food is just an extra bonus ;) However, we didn't go all day. We got there about 2:30 and left about 6:30 or so. It was a fun day though. We got some candy, a big plate of nachos (fair size of course), Dan got a 1/2 pound tenderloin. Sorry, there aren't any photos of these. I wasn't in the mood to carry my camera around. Either way, we got to spend the day with friends, and just enjoy each other!

Saturday was a crazy day for me, went to a bridal shower for my cousin, at the winery downtown. It was so beautiful, my cousin is very stylish with everything she does, her house is decorated to the nines, and not with super expensive modern looking things, more of a vintage boutique (super cute). Her fashion sense is the same way. She loves her wine so the winery was a perfect fit. Check out some of the images below....

Next, after the shower I did some candid work for a wedding, it was BLAZING hot out, and super humid. I really did try to look cute with my hair curled, however, I walked around this beautiful outside wedding for 3 hours, and my hair ended up in a ponytail with no curl left :( The wedding, setting, flowers, detail, all was fun and beautiful. Here are some of the shots! Congrats to the Bride and Groom.

That was just all in one weekend, needless to say the closet hasn't come to far...hopefully this weekend, after I do a senior session, Dan working, and a birthday party....the summer is coming to an end faster than I thought, but that just means I'm one step closer to becoming a teacher :)

Hope everyone is doing great! Love you all!

Dan, Hollie, Tyson, and Hershie :)

Long Time...No Write...

Sorry for the long delay of posting...Our lives have been very busy between a family reunion, to building a closet, to raising a new puppy...all changes that we are pleased with I might add.

The weekend after we got Tyson we headed back to Sumner, IA for a family reunion. I should mention I didn't take any photos at the family reunion (sorry), but I did take some when I spent Friday afternoon

with my nieces! Two of which (twins) are here in town so I get to see them a lot, the other three is fe

w and far between. For those of you who know me and know how much I love spending time with family, this is very hard for me. I get so excited to go and see them, then when the weekend comes to an end I just want to cry because I don't know when the next time will come. Either way though Dan and I are

going to work on getting back there mor

e this fall, and it was a GREAT weekend with them, they are all amazing in their own ways :) Check out some of the photos of them playing together at home and then at a parade we went to.

This past weekend I decided before school starts up on the 30Th, and I start working two jobs that I wanted to get the closet I wanted built. In the 3rd bedroom the closet was like 3 feet wide (see photo) no joking here....

Well that was not near big enough for all my stuff. I will admit I have a lot of clothing (not near what I used to however), and the two closets I use in the house total about 6 feet, have 1 bar, and 1 shelf which for storage is terrible considering I can't reach them. The change is this, they (Dan and my Dad) tore down one wall and just expanded the length of the room, then built two small encasing walls, next we need to kilz and paint the inside before we hang the shelves so that's where the project ended late Sunday afternoon.

While the men were working on the closet my mom and I had our own little project....changing my hair color per request of Dan. He was looking through some of my old photos and thought I should try it out, since he had never actually seen me with brown hair before. Which I find this funny because when Dan and I met for the first time my hair was black on top with hot pink under, it was in my crazy college days....if you are wondering what prompted me to do that. Either way, Dan said, "the first time I met you, I thought you were crazy and way to hardcore for me." Mind you it was post season of soccer, and I was getting ready to go for a long run, and probably had just finished doing Tae Bo...so yeah I would say I was pretty hardcore...or not..either way he thought I was crazy. Part of me thinks he thought I was actually pretty cool but just didn't have the guts to really talk to me so he used my hair as an excuse. Take a look...this is how my hair was, and now is....

That should get you all caught up now, we have another busy weekend ahead of us. Dan has to work on Saturday, I have a bridal shower on Saturday Morning, and I'm also shooting candids at a wedding :) Sunday we have some friends coming into town and I think we are all planning on going to the fair. That all being said, tonight my goal is to get the closet walls ready to hang the shelves, then tomorrow go buy the shelving so that maybe we can get them hung Friday night "Date Night." Only a few weeks until school so I am trying to get all our home improvements done for this summer before then!

Check y'all later!

Love from the Buchholz House

New Family Member...

As we came to the end of the week last week Dan and I began to realize the house just wasn't the same without Buddie. It was way to quiet and actually kind of boring. Every night last week we tried to keep busy running errands or doing this doing that, but there was just something missing. We agreed it was a dog. We love spending time together and doing little projects or going places, but we also love having something that's OURS to enjoy. Dan has wanted a boxer ever since we have dated. His friends in college had them and he loved them. I really want another beagle. I did a little research and found that both the Boxer and Beagle breeds are great family dogs, they are very loyal and great with kids. This needed to be considered before we even think about having kids as these dogs have a long lifespan. Dan wanted a reverse brindle, male. You would think that would be easy as the brindles aren't a very popular choice for owners, usually people want the fawns. My mom happened to find one a couple hours away that was just ready to be taken home. Oh, yes, I forgot, we also already had a name picked out for him...Tyson. Well, wouldn't you know, this new babies name was Tyson. This all happened late Saturday night, my mom emailed the breeder, by Sunday afternoon we were in the car to go take a look at him and the breeders place (no puppy mills for us!)


Meet Tyson!! :)

Tyson, is 9 weeks old and AKC registered. He has 9 siblings, and he comes from Ft. Dodge, Iowa. He is pretty quiet and laid back...reminds me a lot of Dan. How, you may be asking. Well, Dan when I first met him seemed to be very quiet, shy, and pretty harmless. Tyson was super quiet the first night, and he is still pretty shy, however, when he wants something or in his case doesn't want something he will make it known! :) Dan and Tyson will be great for each other, Dan has this little sparkle about having Tyson around. Tyson loves his Dad! I will have to update more photos later of his first night home.

We are excited to have a new member of our family!

Love from the Buchholz House!

It's Not Good-bye...Just See You Later...

Well I guess you could say a lot has happened since July 1st, the last post I made. Let's start on the first weekend of July. We had a great 4th of July weekend spent with family and friends, went to a wedding in Davenport, and had a fun 3 day weekend away from work! The following week even though it was only a 4 day week, seemed super long, so we spent the nights just relaxing at home, having family time.

Then comes the weekend of the 10th. I decided I wanted to paint our bedroom, I mean we have at this point almost been in the house a year and it needed to be painted, so Dan and I took the afternoon (after he got off work) and went and picked out paint, then headed home for me to start triming while Dan mowed the lawn. Buddie just laid in the room and watched me most of the time. Then last Saturday we get a call from my mom, my cousins condo was on fire. Well if you know my family at all sometimes little things turn in to BIG things as they come down the grape vine, kind of like a bad game of telephone. She said, "go over to Uncle Kevins and turn off the grill." Right away I thought to myself Uncle Kevin is in California so why is their grill on? My cousin was staying there for the weekend watching the dog, and they left in a hurry to go to their condo to see what was going on. Dan and I headed over to turn off the grill then to see what everyone was talking about. Sad to say the whole building was a loss. To make things worse, my cousin bought his condo the same time we bought our house last year, and redid the whole inside, just to finish most of it up within the last two weeks, and his girlfriend had just moved in with him. So all around a very sad story!

A happy detail from that weekend however, a friend of ours had a baby girl, so Sunday after my 2nd cousins 2nd birthday party we headed to the hospital to see her. She is so beautiful! Now here comes another sad part. We get home Sunday about 8:30 or so, my dad takes Buddie outside to play for a bit, he does about one run to fetch his toy then he's ready to come inside. Which we knew he couldn't play as much but the fact that you could tell he really wanted to be able to play just tore me up inside. Later that night we notice Buddie's eyes were really red, we chalked it up to having been outside after Dan mowed the lawn. About midnight that night his eyes start to look funny and he couldn't really open them. This has happened before and they were always fine the next day.

Come Monday morning, not fine, not at all. They were probably worse, Buddie woke me up so he could eat breakfast then he went right back to bed (not like him at all). I stayed home with him on Monday...he laid in the same spot all day long, and didn't hardly open his eyes. I cried pretty much all day knowing that he was probably not going to get any better. We decided it was time to put him to sleep. Tuesday morning Buddie ate his last meal and was excited for the car ride. Little did he know this would be the last time for a while that he would be seeing us. Dan and I tried to hold back our tears but at this point there was no luck in that. We took him in and at 8:45 he was pain free. He was really the best first dog we could have ever asked for. I still cry myself to sleep, but I believe it's better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all. We know we gave him the best life, spoiled him like crazy, and gave him all the love possible. We are going to miss you Buddie, eat all the ice cream you can, and say hello to those we have lost. We want to thank our family and friends for being there, you guys are all amazing we are very blessed.

We love you Buddie! 12/15/2007-7/13/2010

Love from the Buchholz Home!

Happy July..... 1st....

Happy July! I can't believe I am saying that already, does anyone else feel as though it was just Christmas time and we were shoveling snow..(at least for those here in Iowa)?? This summer is flying by and we have not a thing planned...fun to do...that is. We have little weekend things like weddings but no fun get aways...I think that should change ASAP.

Hope everyone is doing well...so far since I wrote the last post...brace your self...Buddie has made a turn around and has been doing AWESOME! He has been playing, he's happy, and back to barking like crazy! Ohh the things you miss when you think they are about to be gone for good! It has been wonderful to see him so happy again. Part of me thinks it has to do with his new canned food. Yes, it's like real steak, gravy, and veggies...like really? For a dog? haha, but he loves it. In fact he loves it so much that he wakes me up about 6:00 every morning, not because he needs to go out side or he doesn't feel good, but because he is ready to eat at that time. He will get down off the bed come over to where my face is, put his front paws up right next to me, and whine until I finally get up. My question to him is, why me, why not Dan? He's closer to the door! I know, I know, I will miss it, I just laugh at him and eventually roll my booty out of bed.

Here is Buddie with his favorite summer snack... ICE CREAM from DQ...

As for Dan and I, Dan as always is working his little booty off, everyday. He did finally take a day off last Friday to play some golf with my cousin, but he had to work Saturday so he still had to technically work a "normal" work week. I, on the other hand got up and ran as soon as Dan left for work on Saturday (it always makes for a better day) you just feel 10x better after a good run, as I was pulling my hair up to go for my run I noticed my roots, yes, they were about an inch grown out and nasty looking. Since my mom was out of town (she usually does my hair) she did hair for about 20 years...I called Jenna to help me out, we have a wedding this weekend and last Saturday we had a retirement party we had to go to, so I needed to get it done ASAP. She did a great job, and I felt great! There is just something about looking your best and then you feel your best. Next was on to some shopping, a new store opened up here Francesca's! It's a chain but a boutique, and I love it! They get new shipments everyday, and they only have about 2-3 sizes for each item, so you don't have to worry about everyone around you wearing the same thing. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to have my comfy AE stuff as well, but for nights out or special occasions it's nice to have something different! Dan was thrilled let me tell you :)

Saturday we went to the retirement party, it was fun to see all my old coworkers, I miss them! Then I had a late dinner date with some of my girlfriends! I always enjoy a great meal with great friends PF Changs is our place :) Then after dinner we headed back to the retirement party, then out with some family and friends to one of the local bars for a drink before heading home. Sunday was great! I love Sundays!! I think Dan would agree, even though he sometimes has to work on the house, we did get him Tiger Woods 2011 for PS3 so that was his thank you gift for helping me...with what you might be thinking...

My parents are redoing their house, starting with the living room so they got all new shelving and what not, so they gave us their old shelf and DVD racks. I cleaned the living room and moved things around, let's be honest, nobody really likes to clean, however, I like to rearrange so in order for me to do that I always feel like I need to clean while things already look messy. I find it funny that we find Buddies toys hidden behind the couch or under it. Yes, I mean hidden, he walks around with toys in his mouth, whining trying to find places, it's comical!

Dan put the shelf up and put all the electronics on it, and got all the DVDs put into the stands, it really made the room feel complete without having to use my coffee table to hold everything :) Speaking of the coffee table. I purchased a candle bowl thing at Big Lots, for those of you who don't shop there....you should! AMAZING! If you can't find what you are looking for go there, they have just out anything you can dream of, and super cheap!! so, yeah, I bought this candle tray, to make a candle garden for a center piece...and I absolutly love it! I also found some inexpensive throw pillows (hello..those things are so freaking expensive) I got them for $8..Bargin!! hmm...I'm trying to think if I got anything else there...Oh yes, the outdoor mat. Those things can be outragiously priced as well, we got a perfect one for our front door...$5...yep that's it! Then I got the candles (12 of them) and like 5 bags of rocks at the Dollar store and I only spent $11 dollars!! Golly I love deals!!

After I got the living room the way I wanted it, I had the bug to keep going! I chose the "Office" because we had gotten another shelf from my parents that they bought and never used so they said if we wanted we could have it because they couldn't take it back. I put it all together and cleaned up our mess of an office with papers and old bills, and who knows what else all piled together. Then moved things around. We also took down Buddie's kennel, which Dan tell's me Buddie is still confused. It has been over a month now since Buddie has gone in his kennel during the day or at night, and he still sits in that room when Dan gets ready to leave for work. Oh Buddie you're a funny one. Either way without the kennel and with everything moved around the room seems 10x bigger. I love it. Let's see how much I love it come this fall when I have to spend every night doing homework in it right!? For now I love it!

Those are the many updates for today. Work is insanly busy right now for my Dad so the phone has been ringing off the hook (I wont complain about that). This weekend I'm running a 5K with my sister and my cousin (she's not my cousin yet) but she is part of the family. Then Dan and I leave at 10:00 or so for Davenport for a friends wedding. We will be back to Sunday to spend the day with friends and family, even though I will say and Dan has had to listen to me all week, about how I'm sad to be missing all the fun stuff (parade, carnival, family grill outs, street dance/concert) for the second year in a row. Urbandale has one of the best 4th of July Celebrations, so I just hate to miss it. I guess there is always next year, so for those reading this DON'T plan anything on the 4th of July weekend next year, cause we wont be joining you! Haha (kind of) Either way everyone please have a safe, fun, relaxing Holiday weekend! God Bless the USA!!

Love from the Buchholz 3!

Dog Days of Summer...

Happy Tuesday everyone!...We all know Tuesday isn't one of the days we usually look forward to, however, it is the first sign that Monday is out of the way! :)

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day weekend! We were very busy but we had a lot of fun. Saturday, Dan worked all day, as usual! I went to the farmers market with my family, then had a photo session. Saturday night we grilled out for my brother's birthday. Then some of us headed out for the night. Sunday we spent the day at Adventureland with some of Dan's family. It was fun, I haven't been there forever! Sunday evening we went to my parents house for dinner with the grandparents for Father's Day/Brother's birthday. Great food, but we were so tired we went home at about 6:30, we both sat down to watch t.v. and were out by 7:00. I don't remember the last time that happened, but it felt so great! Dan said he kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking he had over slept because he actually slept for so long :)

Update on Buddie, to start there probably wont be too many more updates on him :( During the grill out Saturday night he got sick, and didn't want to eat anything, and I mean we tried human food and he would just look at it and walk away. That's how we know he's on the decline. He just lays in the same spot all day long. Sunday we noticed he was limping around, now he can't get onto the bed or in the bathtub (which is his favorite thing in the world) we have to lift him out, so we will be watching tv and hear this whining and go to the bathroom to help him out, which is cute but so sad at the same time. We don't want him to have to be in pain. I know right now I'm being selfish. I can't get used to the fact that they are going to cremate him, it just seems so wrong. That's the last thing I want to think about after already knowing we have to put him to sleep. Ahh it just sucks, and there is no easy way for any of this. Were watching him closely and I never want to leave him, and when I do I pray he will still be breathing when we get home. That's his update for today, hopefully when I get home he will have his smile on. :)

As the rest of the country we have been having some crazy rain this year. This is from one of the storms that went through on Friday morning. I took it from my office window, but the rain already this summer had just been insane! Buddie has started to get really anxious when he knows a storm is coming.

Wednesday night my sister came into town so we all went out to eat. We were getting ready to leave and I had ridden with my parents on the way to the restaurant because Dan was meeting us after he got off work and we didn't want to have two cars out there. We get ready to leave, Dan's softball bag was in the passenger seat so he went to put it in his trunk and all we hear is SNAP, whoops. Yes the hinge was so rusted it just snapped off, so one side of his trunk is now just sitting on the car not connected (safe I know). So far since the winter, it needs a new back axle, it has been backed into, it needs a new clutch, it has been side swiped, and now the trunk broke off. LOL, so no it may not be the best time to buy a car but sometimes we don't get a choice. I don't think it's going to make it too much longer, especially if Doug and Holly want it back. So we are looking at new cars, we found a great deal on this Malibu which is what Dan really wants. I want an Armada but they are actually really hard to find around here, we did test drive both of them, the Malibu is great especially since he only drives 5 blocks to work. The Armada wasn't a 4-wheel drive which is why we went against it. This car is great, it's going to be "Dan's" car so I told him he gets to choose what he wants. It's been fun actually seeing him get so excited, because he has never had a new car, I actually really enjoy going through this process with him and I can't wait for him to find one and actually get to take it home.

Finally, I get to start running again, I'm not having any pain in my knees or ankles so I think I can get back out there. I probably wont pick up where I left off but as long as I am getting some miles in I think I will be okay. I might have to cute down to three days a week instead of four which will be okay I think. All I can do is try it out and see how things go. I also had my meeting with admissions at Grand view this morning, I will be starting classes on August 30Th! I am very excited, nervous, and anxious all at the same time, but I'm ready!

Just of few updates from our weekend, hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Love from the Buchholz 3 :)